Oct 27, 2014 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The place for advice, feedback, and friendly blogging chatter.

Have you just published a new post and are dying for some feedback? Did you recently start your blog and could use some layout or design advice from your more seasoned peers?

Tap into the wisdom of The Daily Post blogging community and leave your question here in the comments. Others can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

To help us make the Community Pool a productive space for discussion, here are some tips you might find useful:

TIP: To keep from losing your place in the comment thread while you visit others’ blogs, right-click on a link to open it in a new tab or window.

  • While you’re not required to, we encourage everyone who requests feedback to also reply to at least one or two other bloggers who need some help. Spread the love!
  • The Community Pool comments section can get quite big — and starting duplicate threads doesn’t help. Thanks for not posting the same question more than once!
  • If you’re looking for quality feedback, be as specific as you can. Questions about a particular post tend to draw more comments than ones about entire blogs. Questions about specific design elements are more likely to be answered than ones asking for general layout advice.
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  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. The idea is to have fun — it’s a pool, after all!
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • No running on the deck.

Photo by Brian Cantoni.

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  1. I did an interview with a multi-lingual rapper (he can rap in four languages) head over to my Creative Minds page and find out about him! 😊

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    1. I love this idea! I’ve only done the daily post challenge once; I wrote something in 10 minutes. It also happened to be my most liked post so far. 🙂 I think this could really work for you.

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    2. Ten Minute Tuesdays is a great idea! You may be pleasantly surprised by what you come up with. I sometimes start writing random, unconnected words until eventually a theme emerges. On a different subject, your dress for Diwali is just beautiful! Best, Karen 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I really liked your blog posts train of thought. My line of thinking is just because you may have more to deal with than another person, or another person has it worse of than you , neither set of circumstances negate the way we each feel as an individual. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I enjoyed exploring your blog. As a special ed teacher, I was drawn to your posts about autism. I think your humility and love really shine through on your post about your son’s giggles. Well done!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I’ve discovered some excellent blogs and people over here so far, so much to explore, it’s nice to see so many writers. A friend of mine who used to own a garage rock fanzine used to say ‘If you can speak, you can write!’
    I’ve added a few posts since my last visit here and I’ve also flushed out the layout with some images and particularly the ‘Cassette Collage’ pics on the primary (left) sidebar link directly to audio content! I thought that was cool!
    Dig in and any feedback is very welcome!
    http://alphastare.wordpress.com/

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  5. FollowtheLight
    How often should you post to blog? I am trying to market my book through social media but I also understand that we are writers and as such, we write. There is a school of thought that says a writers energy should always focus on their next book. How do balance blogging with writing the sequel?

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    1. I think that the majority of your energy should be devoted to your next book, simply because your money/career/satisfaction comes mainly from publication. However, it’s still important to maintain and promote current readership, and your blog is a great resource for fans. I’d suggest posting once a week, keeping the topics relevant to your current and future work (and a little bio now and again doesn’t hurt). You’ll become a “real” person to your readers and still have to to write the important stuff. Best wishes!

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I don’t think there are really any hard on fast rules on how often to post on ones blog. I’d say it’s more import at to establish a pattern, even a schedule, of when you post – your regular readers will look forward to “Thursday” perhaps, if that’s they day you choose to post. I follow some bloggers who post daily – these are usually rapid fire, pithy comments that take seconds to read, other post weekly, others monthly. It also depends on whether your blog feeds your writing or vice versa, taking a look at your blog you do seem to use it more to promote your work (nothing wrong with that) than to share other thoughts about writing the writing process etc… So in your case I’d probably agree that your energy should be focused on the next book – you are already published after all (not like me who is only a third of the way through a hopeful writing of my first book) – so use your blog to let us know what’s coming next, what are your current projects, when the publication dates are etc… But often enough to make it fresh and interesting. Just my opinion!

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  6. Hi! I just started my blog fairly recently and am a little confused about layouts. The goal of my blog is to have four different ‘pages’ or tabs on my page to separate between “DIY” stuff, “Mommy-hood” stuff, “Recipe” stuff, and regular “ramblings” stuff, that way everything is sorted out and easy to find in terms of posts. Is this possible? Does anyone have any layout recommendations? I’d love for something to show my pictures as well, while i’m not the best photographer (or even close to it), I do a lot of furniture re-vamps and would like to showcase my work. Thanks!

    http://www.maidenmodern.wordpress.com

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    1. Your blog has a really entertaining and bubbly effect to it I think the layout and theme you’re using is already great, if you want to try something new try the twenty fourteen theme its really awesome.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Seriously, awesome comment. Thanks for checking it out, and giving me some feedback. I’ll see how the layout works for me. Thanks again. 🙂

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  7. Hey fellow bloggers, hope you’re all well!

    I’ve been doing a 10 days of horror feature where I pick a horror film, TV show or game a day leading up to Halloween. Today is day 6:

    10 Days Of Horror – Day Six

    Would be brilliant if you could take a look, and if you could have a little click around and let me know if there are any areas which you feel I would be able to improve upon?

    Thanks in advance, happy Halloween 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I poked around a little and think you have a fun and interesting idea going here. 🙂 I recently just watched a horror film from 1978, which at the time was pretty scary (at least to me.) It was interesting watching it again after all these years, and yes, there were still some aspects which made me squirm. Maybe you could incorporate movie nostalgia or perceptions of films in hindsight. Good work and thank you for the opportunity to offer my .02 cents! 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much for taking the time to take a look and to give me some feedback, it really is appreciated! That’s a great idea, will definitely look to do that 🙂

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    2. I hadn’t realized so many days had gone by since I read your first two posts on this topic. Even though I’m not a horror flick fan, I enjoy your style of writing. I think your blog is top-notch and hope you are copywriting everything!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I like Daydream- as a procrastinator and a daydreamer I can relate. Your poetry is quite good, and your layout looks great, too. I don’t know that this qualifies as great feedback, but it’s my two cents. Keep writing what you feel, and the viewers will come! 🙂

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  10. I used to have a personal (cooking) blog, but I’m new to industry-related posting. I’d love some feedback — general is fine, but I’m hoping to work on a professional-fun-approachable voice and boost my readership connections. Thanks so much, bloggers!

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    1. I commented directly on your most recent post. I love the name and tagline of your blog. You write in a friendly and easy-to-follow manner that engages the reader. Looks like you are off to a great start! Karen 🙂

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  12. Hey y’all. I would love some feedback. Trying to write less storytelling posts and more opinion/informative posts.. but not sure how they will be received. Thanks! Open to any and all suggestions!

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    1. I’ve tried writing some informative and opinionated post before bit went ok but I realized that in order to write such a thing it has to really capture people attention like for instance one thing that I check out before I read someone’s blog is the title and sometimes the picture that they have along with it. Not saying those things are important but they capture the eye. Also be sure that when you write about those two things to be spontaneous and most of all yourself you never want to lose yourself in a piece because you’re focused about what others would like to hear. Its always a great thing to just write about what you know , and quite frankly its a bit easier to do. Hopefully I helped:D

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    2. Easy, conversationalist writing style. Light-but-interesting topics, depending on your target demographic. Good layout. I’d start interspersing your info posts with the stories, or combine the two in a moral-of-the-story kind of way. Keep it up!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I like your blog even more after I read your “About” page. Your comments on school and culture are excellent. Keep blogging! I think we’ll enjoy hearing from your unique perspective.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much, really appreciate it! Its a difficult area to write about, but appreciate the support. Had a look over on your blog and gave it a follow; loved the layout and style, and your “About” page gave me some helpful perspective. Looking forward to readjng your other work!

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Looking for some constructive criticism. I want my blog to be “My website.” I’m a Vocalist, Songwriter, and Vlogger. I vlog about my experience through college as an aspiring musician trying to create a community where young musicians can talk and collab! If you think you can help make my blog as easy to navigate through as possible, that would be amazing:) I’ll check out your blogs as well / give you my novice feedback as a viewer as well! Thanks<3

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Hiya, I have started up a blog – literally yesterday! Can some of you cast your eye over it and tell me what’s right and what can be improved? I won’t be offended!
    thank you – Natalie x

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I enjoyed reading your posts. I think you captured the shopping trip well and would want to know what you do next. I think some photos or illustrations would add more zip to your page. The center-justification font is a bit tricky for me, but maybe that’s just my age. Keep going!

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  19. I’ve just started a photography blog, linking to my other social media sites. Any advice in general relating to running a photography blog? Is my theme suitable? Do I need more pages on my blog?

    I’d love to see some other examples of photography blogs who have been running awhile and hear their advice. I’m not new to blogging but very new to blogging around my photography, and consider myself quite a beginner in terms of the technical side of photography.

    http://itslottiephotography.wordpress.com/

    Thanks in advance.

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    1. Your theme looks fine for a photography blog. I run one over on another website and the only thing I can say is that you might want to think about some other pages. I’ve found that people like to be able to click on a page and see all your pictures of scenery, or food, or people. Whatever it isn’t doesn’t matter they just want to be able to see it all together. As I said though your theme looks fine and I look forward to seeing your new photos soon.

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  20. Hey bloggers! I’ve also started up a new blog. I’d be interested to recieve feedback on the content of the articles and the reaction you had to them. Also any tips on layout would be fantastic! And please feel free to ask questions about my blog if you have any 🙂 Thankyou!!!!

    PagesFromHumanity

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    1. Really liked your posts 😺 They way your write really captured my attention. You might want to think about you theme a bit more though to try and find something to match your blog slightly better.

      For instance if your going to do more just text posts you might want a slightly livelier theme or even just a slightly different background colour. Just an idea.

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    2. I just read your latest Halloween post, and I loved it. I also read your bio, and I noticed that you “don’t think you’re incredibly funny or witty.” Be nicer to yourself, come on! Your post made me smile, especially with the Mrs. Weasley reference 🙂

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    1. I read your post and I have to say I loved it. The way you used the pictures to break up the writing made it so much better. It gave a break in what otherwise would have been too continuous a post and helped illustrate your weekend. It looks like you had great fun. I’m definitely going to follow you.

      Like

    2. Hi, I’m also a female, Indian, traveler (someday), blogger, writer, Potterhead, and cook (awful, may I add). Loved your style, I always appreciate crisp writing 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Your blog is beautiful- and so are you! Your post on the emo girl was terrific. I hope lots of folks take the time to find out more about your blog. Well done!

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    2. I’m glad I stumbled into this community. I’m very glad I found your blog. I’m brand new to this and love your style, from layout to content. Kept me hooked, not boring and great to finally understand how some of the widgets and styles look on a good blog! I like the theme a lot but your content really brings it alive.

      Liked by 1 person

  24. Hi everyone. I write about my very personal experiences with life and depression. Though I started writing as more of a diary, is there more I could include that may speak to or help others going through the same things? writingoutdepression.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Wow. That’s some excellent writing about a lot of hot topics. I think your blog would provide encouragement for others. It’s authentic, gutsy, and gentle, all at the same time. I read through several posts but didn’t spot a comment button, which you might want to add for creating a community.

      Liked by 2 people

  25. Hello! I just moved from Tumblr to WordPress but still keep the two accounts linked. To be honest my online experience started with social network sites instead of blogs; I can feel the huge difference.

    My question is about the overall style of my blog: http://cafedosmundos.wordpress.com/
    Should I write more instead of just post photo(s)? I noticed that single photo post might be more welcomed on Tumblr but readers on WordPress usually won’t go into the post.

    Thank you!

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    1. Hi. Thanks for offering a look inside. I liked the Peking/Beijing story and think the other photos could benefit from a story-line too. 😉 Keeps the viewer there longer while also capturing more of their attention, which might have the affect of drawing them in further to see more.
      Why are you keeping/writing a blog? For everyone, the answer is different. Listen to your answer and pursue this in greater detail! 🙂 Best of luck.

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  26. Hey guys!

    I just started my blog couple days ago and would love some comments from all you amazing people! 🙂 Its a photography + story telling sorta blog. Im going for an informal writing style with some humor *a newbie writer too!* Let me know of what you think i should be working on or if the pictures/video sorta makes a point. All comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Hello!
    I welcome the chance to have some fresh insight about our blog. I’ve been writing about our Finnish home remodeling project but there are other useful bits about Finnish culture tucked in too, as well as construction/carpentry tips and practices. I believe the pages tell a good story and are interesting and useful for almost everyone… But YOU be the judge and set the record straight!

    http://vanhatalosuomi.wordpress.com/

    Vanha = Old
    Talo = House
    Suomi = Finnish

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    1. What a lovely feel to your blog – from the About page to the posts. I’m full of admiration for you – for getting up so high on the roof and for putting so much energy into your new house. Energy is the thing that resonates through the blog. It’s fascinating – and I like the fact that you have the weather in Finland in the sidebar. 🙂

      All good luck with your blog and with your house.

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    2. I think your blog is very interesting and the amount of detail you provide is especially great for anyone interested in remodeling.

      Is there anywhere obvious on the blog where you provide the translation of the title that you do in your comment? I didn’t see it on the About page. I think that might be helpful for people who find you because of their home remodeling interest and who may not know much about the Finnish language.

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      1. Thank you for your insight. I have wanted to include more Finnish within the posts for a number of reasons. I think in earlier posts I did provide a side-by-side translation and will make a point to do this more often.
        As for the title page, no I don’t think I ever did add the translation, thanks for pointing this out. 🙂
        I sure appreciated your time in looking our project pages through. 🙂
        All the best to you!

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  30. Hey bloggers,

    I have been blogging for a couple of months now about diving, travel, photography and my upcoming trip to South East Asia! I want to start having a regular Monday photo feature (what I posted today), and was hoping a few people could give some feedback (or maybe a suggestion of a stronger direction to take a feature in).

    http://jordannicksy.wordpress.com/

    Thank you!

    Like